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> Posted by Center Staff
2009 HBS-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership in Microfinance
The Harvard Business School-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance began this week. This is the program’s sixth year of offering industry leaders the opportunity to connect with peers while engaging with some of the Harvard Business School faculty’s foremost thinkers in business strategy and management.
ACCION President and CEO Michael Schlein welcomed participants to this year’s April 25-30 program with these remarks:
Ladies and gentlemen, a very good evening to you all. I’m Michael Schlein, president and CEO of ACCION, and it’s a privilege to welcome all of you here tonight to the Harvard Business School-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance.
Allow me to extend my warmest welcome, and my thanks, to the more than 60 new students who are with us this week, representing no fewer than 31 different countries.
Believe it or not, this is the sixth consecutive year that HBS and ACCION have been conducting this groundbreaking course. By the conclusion of this week’s class, nearly 400 participants from over 75 different countries will have participated in the training.
A list of graduates of this course would read like a veritable “Who’s Who” of the industry. By my count, more than 158 organizations have sent executives. No fewer than 75 of the participants have been the CEOs of those institutions. So, you are among very good company indeed. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Center Staff
More than a dozen institutions with high-profile roles in the world’s microfinance industry today released an open letter in support of Dr. Muhammad Yunus as he grapples with a harsh attack by the Government of Bangladesh.
The level of unity shown here by the industry is unprecedented.
The letter reads, in part: “We are increasingly concerned and dismayed with the troubles Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is facing in Bangladesh … We deeply deplore this lack of justice and unproven allegations that not only impugn Dr. Yunus’ character and the integrity of his flagship bank, but reach much further.”
“Dr. Yunus has played a seminal role in the development and recognition of microfinance … He has our strong support, and our wishes for a just and speedy resolution to this sad turn of events,” add the signatories.
The open letter is signed by: Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Center Staff
The Smart Campaign is proud to announce the launch of its first-ever e-learning course, which allows industry professionals to experience interactive simulations of a series of scenarios involving client protection and financial education in microfinance.
The course’s initial scenario takes participants to Occlo, a microfinance institution in a fictional country, which is facing troubles due to client distrust, limited staff experience, political strife, and other issues. The user is challenged to reduce the impact of these factors and improve Occlo’s situation.
The course was created to make the case for client protection and financial education, and to assist users in thinking about ways to implement the Client Protection Principles in their own organizations.
“I think the course we developed meets both of these goals, both by giving the user an opportunity to see the impact of these principles on a microfinance organization, and by exposing them to ways that they could consider implementing the principles in their own organization,” said e-learning developer Amanda Warner, who created the module in collaboration with a team from ACCION International and the Smart Campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Kelley Mesa
Several recent studies have questioned the ability of microfinance to show any demonstrable effect on helping to alleviate poverty. Leading industry practitioners respectfully disagree.
See what FINCA, Grameen Foundation, Opportunity International, Unitus, Women’s World Banking, and ACCION International have to say, collectively, on the topic, here »
> Posted by Elisabeth Rhyne
Tim Harford’s Financial Times blog post “Perhaps microfinance isn’t such a big deal after all,” is missing the point. Microfinance’s purpose is not to cure the world’s poverty ailments. Its purpose is to include otherwise ignored people into the financial sector. You don’t need an impact evaluation to tell you what a valuable role financial services play in your own life – and it is the same for the clients of microfinance. Low income and informal individuals who would otherwise be at the doorstep of a neighborhood loan shark are instead able to find loans, savings programs, and, in some cases, other financial services to help them manage cash flow, expand their businesses, cope with emergencies, or save for the future.
> Posted by Charlotte Connors
Michael Schlein, ACCION International's new CEO
ACCION International announced today that it has named Michael Schlein as its new President and CEO. Schlein, President of International Franchise Management at Citigroup, will succeed María Otero, who was recently appointed U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. Mr. Schlein brings 25 years of extensive international banking, management and public service experience to ACCION. Most recently, he served as President of Citigroup’s International Franchise Management unit, where he helped manage the bank’s network of 100 Chief Country Officers, who are responsible for performance, regulatory relations, governance and reputational risk in their respective countries. To read the full press release, please click here.
“I am honored to be joining ACCION as President and CEO at this exciting time,” Mr. Schlein said. “ACCION has long been a leader and an innovator in the global effort to alleviate poverty through microfinance, with many ‘firsts’ to its name. I’m very proud to have the opportunity to help build on that tradition, as ACCION continues to reach beyond its roots in Latin America even further, to help the world’s poor in Africa, India and China. There is a greater opportunity today to combat global poverty than ever before, and I look forward to helping ACCION continue and expand its leadership in that crucial effort.”
> Posted by Kelley Mesa
Watch live the proceedings from the Encuentro Centroamericano de Microfinanzas, hosted by ACCION and the Citi Foundation. The Sept. 9-11 El Salvador event is covering topics such as:
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Challenges for Central American Microfinance
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Funding Microfinance in Central America
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Legislation, Regulation & Supervision
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Institution Building to Manage Risk
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Consumer Protection in Microfinance
Watch it live here.
> Posted by Anita Gardeva
María Otero - Designate, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs in the State Department.
ACCION International’s former CEO, María Otero, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a hearing regarding her nomination to the position of Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs at the State Department.
The hearing will be broadcast live at the following website: http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2009/hrg090625a.html. At the top of the page, click on the blue title “Nominations” to automatically open media player window that will stream the webcast.
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